Nuffnang Leaderboard

January 30, 2009

Lunar New Year

2009.01.25
first off after 2 weeks of night shift.
left work slightly earlier to rest at home after my flu worsened.

NeuNeu came by to pick me up at 5am, and left in the afternoon for his family's reunion dinner after accompanying me for a bit.

my own family reunion dinner started around 5pm and ended before 8pm.
spent some time online afterwards with Sel Sel, 
then NeuNeu came back again after his dinner.

i played half a round of mahjong then hit the sack for my "recovery rest", 
while the rest of them continued till 4am.




2009.01.26
reserved for his paternal family.

started the day by visiting his family.
then left together to his 伯伯 (paternal uncle) for visiting, 
and it was over to his 姑媽 (paternal auntie) home for the usual feast.

last stop was back at his home, where we took some rest before sending his relatives back on our way to Boon's.








it was CNY Pandemonium!

initally Nono and Mary couldn't make it so there was only Sel, Ling, me and NeuNeu.
afterwards Shan joined us and we psycho-ed Mary to come by after her family gathering.

after the usual Black Jack, we played HEART ATTACK.
i ended up with 2 bruises on the back of my hands. k u a  k u a.







2009.01.27
reserved for his maternal family.

woke up late after the mayhem the previous night.
though we arrived at his 舅舅 (maternal uncle)'s home no earlier than 3pm, there was no-one else there yet.

exchanged greetings, sat around and while Gong Gong sang his favorite songs from a 
Cantonese opera collection and the rest of the family started streaming in.

this year they invited the Lion Dance troop on this day instead of 初一, 
so all of us got to watch the entire performance in his house.

afterwards it was... 

more food, more drinks, more snacks, more gambling, more mayhem.


2009.01.28
we promised to help his buddy with his final year project showcase, so we ran around the island for the whole day.

stopped before 7pm and left for Alexandra to meet his ex-colleagues and friends for another round of feasting.
Alex, Penelope, Anders, Adrian together with a few others.

the food was slow. like REALLY slow. and it all officially started only around 8.30pm.
and being famished, every dish was snapped up within minutes by everyone.

split up around 11pm when the dinner ended.
we made a quick trip to JB for petrol, and was back around 2am to catch up on sleep.


2009.01.29
we were supposed to bring Ah Po out to her sister-in-law's home.
but something else cropped up unexpectedly, so it was postponed to the following day.

we decided to meet up with his mom, godmom and goddad as planned but headed to Loyang Tua Pek Gong instead.
after the prayers, NeuNeu drove them to my place. 
we had another round of food, drinks and mahjong.


after sending all of them home, 
we met Joanne at Boon Keng.

we sauntered around Bugis, drove up 

to Esplanade and River Hong Bao, then walked over to the Singapore Flyers (which, unfortunately, was already closed by then)

by the time finished supper with Adrian, it was already 1am.

sent Joanne back to the hotel, then back to his place.


2009.01.30
despite sleeping no earlier than 2am the night before, we woke up at 8.30am to pick up his grandma and godmom to visit his 舅婆 (grandma's brother's wife... complex eh).

the SOP (Standard Operational Protocol) of chit chat, drinks and snacks.
we were off to the temporary Tekka market for brunch.
dropped godmom at Novena MRT, then dropped his mom back at home and then we headed back to my house.

MORE gambling.
i dozed off for a bit while they were playing mahjong.
then woke up to take over mommy for the second half.
NeuNeu left after dinner, and the rest of us continued to play a new round before calling it a day.



by golly...
our CNY's are always occupied with lots of travelling, visiting, gambling.

Lunar New Year days are always busy but i'm lovin' it!

January 25, 2009

Happy Mew Year!

having a short break after the reunion steamboat + hotplate dinner.
just exchanged greetings over the phone and msn with my buddies, chickies, colleagues.

the cranky weather really got me.
i started falling sick last night, my last shift of the year.

and so, Louis says "水"是財 (literally Water is Wealth),
therefore "鼻水"也是財 (literally Nose water aka Mucus is also Wealth).
._."

anyways, collected my cholesterol and blood sugar results.
yippee.
major improvement for the cholesterol while my blood sugar remains at a good level.

waiting for the Lo-Hei when NeuNeu comes over later, 
followed by mahjong to kickstart the Lunar Ox year.

full day of visiting with his family tomorrow,
then i'm meeting the girls at Boon's place in the evening.
we had a pre-CNY, a CNY, and will be having the post-CNY.
... like Sel says, it's another excuse to feast, party and gossip!

i better go catch some rest now.
Nick says it's not auspicious to sleep before midnight, so i'll go steal a nap first.

HAPPY MEW YEAR!


January 18, 2009

End of week


should have been a happy beginning as my last work-night for the week
BUT 
and there's always a BUT that spoils the beautiful picture
i suffered from diarrhea the entire night. 
bummer.

nobody could come replace me coz it was already near mid-night so i just had to put up with the discomfort till the next shift comes in the morning..

NeuNeu was really nice to rush down to office with Poh Chai pills for me.
still making runs to the toilet after midnight, but finally stopped near 1.30am and that was when i took my very late dinner.


in any case, i'm gonna catch enough rest when i get back home 
it's the pre Chinese New Year dinner with the girls later in the day!
mommy's making chicken wings for us and i also us bought a box of fortune cookies.

yummy.

January 16, 2009

About your surnames

came across an interesting articles on the origins of surnames

warning: may cause headache to non-mandarin readers

 

而中国:有张、王、李、赵,四个大姓,历史悠久,分布广泛,而且都是皇帝赐姓。根据最新的统计,单是姓张的,就有一亿人,这恐怕是世界上最大的姓了吧。 
1977
年史学家李栋明,在《东方杂志》上发表过一篇有关的论文,文中指出: 
华人最大的十个姓是:张、王、李、赵、陈、杨、吴、刘、黄、周。这十个姓占华人人口40%,约四亿人。 
第二大的十个姓是:徐、朱、林、孙、马、高、胡、郑、 郭、萧。占华人人口10%以上。 
第三大的十个姓是:谢、何、许、宋、沈、罗、韩、邓、梁、叶。占华人人口10% 
接下来的15个大姓是:方、崔、程 、潘、曹、冯、汪、蔡、袁、卢、唐、钱、杜、彭、陆。加起来也占总人口的10%。换名话说,在中国十亿人口中,有七亿人姓了这45个大姓。 
另外的三亿多人的姓,都是比较少见的,象毛、江、白、文、关、廖、苗、池等等。 

 

now we know we cannot offend Nono. her entire clan will come after us.

 

here's for mr. ma

Family name website

马氏家族网

 

寻根溯祖

    1、出自嬴姓,为上古时期“五帝”之一的少皋氏裔孙伯益之后,其受姓始祖为战国赵王子奢。相传少皋有个孙女叫女修,因食燕子蛋而怀孕生子大业(皋陶)。大业之子伯益辅佐大禹治水有功,帝舜赐他姓嬴。伯益之子大廉,传至季胜有个曾孙叫造父,是周穆王的驾车大夫,因平乱有功,被封在赵城(今山西洪洞县北赵城),称为赵氏。后建立赵国。战国时赵王有子叫赵奢,以善用兵著称,因战功卓著被赵惠文王封在马服(今邯郸市西北),称马服君,死后葬于封邑。其子孙最初以“马服”两字为其姓氏,后省去“服”字,遂有马氏。世居邯郸。史称马姓正宗。

    2、由译音而得姓:伊斯兰教传入中国时,其创始人穆罕默德被音译为“摩珂末”、“马哈麻”、“谟罕德”,回、维吾尔、哈萨克、塔塔尔、东乡、撒拉、保安等信奉伊斯兰教的少数民族受汉族影响,在采用姓氏时遂以穆罕默德在中国的最初译音“马”、“哈”、“麻”为姓,形成马姓中重要的一支,其中尤以回族中马姓最多,有“十个回族九个马”之说。

    3、出自他族改姓和赐姓。如东汉大司徒马宫,本马矢氏,后改姓马氏;五代时司马球之后改司马氏为马氏,金时女真人汪古氏汉姓为马,元时蒙古合鲁氏有改姓马者,清满洲八旗费莫氏、马佳氏中,均有改姓马者。明朝时,多支归附朝廷的西域回民被赐姓为马;蒙古人中亦有被赐姓马者。


迁徙流布

    与其他胜氏不同,马姓得姓较晚,然而很快成为大族。

    公元前222年,秦国灭赵国,将赵奢之孙马兴迁徙至秦都咸阳(今陕西咸阳东北)。西汉武帝时,马兴后人马何罗徙右扶风茂陵(今陕西兴平东北),从此,扶风茂陵成为马氏的发展繁衍中心。两汉至南北朝时期,马氏除在扶风茂陵成为望族外,还分布于今河南、河北、山东、湖北、四川、甘肃、江苏、浙江等省的一些地方。这一时期,马姓位居要职者有汉相马宫、伏波将军马援、东汉开国功臣马武和马成、马援裔孙马腾和马超父子,学者有马融等,形成马姓发展史上的显达时期。

    唐朝是马姓发展的又一高峰,唐初宰相马周、唐代中期猛将马U、中兴名将马燧等为马姓增辉。唐末,王潮、王审之率兵并中原民众入闽,有河南马氏随同前往,在福建安家落户。许州鄢陵(今属河南)人马殷应募从军,随秦宗权部将孙儒入扬州,转从别将刘建峰攻取潭州(今湖南长沙)。896年,刘建峰被部下所杀,马殷被推为主,被朝廷任为潭州刺史,后进武安军节度使,于907年被后梁封为楚王,建立楚国,历时45年,这是历史上马姓建立的唯一一个政权。

    宋代以后,闽、粤地区马姓逐渐增多。至明代,马姓族人遍布福建;至清代,有马姓移居台湾,进而又远徙东南亚及欧美。

    现今马姓在全国的分布以北方为主,在全国百家姓中居第18位。


郡望堂号

郡望

    《元和姓綦》所列马氏郡望有:扶风,京兆、郡、荏平、临安、西河、广陵等。

   扶风马氏为马氏中最大的支派,并衍生出众多支派,如西凉马氏、洛阳马氏、京兆马氏、临安马氏等。

    京兆郡:汉太初元年置京兆县,职掌相当于郡太守,因地近辅,故不称郡,治所在长安(今西安市西北)。三国魏时改称京兆郡。京兆马氏自称为东汉大儒马融之后,其裔孙自周齐至唐有好几代人任御史之职,人称“御史马家”。

堂号

    马姓的堂号有扶风堂、树德堂、聚未堂、宝善堂、文英堂、怀远堂、青云堂、伏波堂、铜柱堂、绛帐堂等,其中最有名的是铜柱堂和绛帐堂。

  铜柱堂:西汉伏波将军马援南征交趾,胜利后在交n立铜柱表功。唐时,马援的后裔马总做安南都护,在原汉立铜柱处又立了两根铜柱,说明自己是伏波将军的后裔,并宣扬大唐的强大。

  绛帐堂:汉代大儒马融才高博洽,弟子常千余人。他在教室里设绛纱帐,前授生徒,后设女乐。弟子都专心听讲,没有人顾盼女乐。


Sluggishly Sluggish

have been feeling sluggish the entire week.
haven't collected my blood test results, and i skipped the sinus checkup at CGH as well.
no mooseum either.

hoochie's right. i AM ms. procrastinator.

did some spring cleaning at mr ma's (haven't cleaned my own room though),
slacked at home, did up my financial worksheets, sorted out the sprees,
... and watched Igor.

anyways my back and neck pains were killing me, 
so i went for a session at the TCM's last week.
accupuncture, cupping and accupressure.
feeling much better now 
'cept for the pinch on my pocket.


also, following ms. wong's entry on her wanted list, i've sorted out mine in 2 categories...

Achievable
1) IPL (approx. SGD3000)
2) Teeth whitening (approx. SGD500)
3) Complete Health check (approx. SGD500)

Dreams are for free
1) 1 unit at The Rochester condo
2) 4 kitties (i've even gone to the extent of comin' up with their names!)
3) 2 nights of luxury at The Racha, Phuket
or
4) 2 nights of nakedness at The Naked Retreat, Hangzhou

... and since dreams are free, i'll add in that i wish for a direct bus from my house to office


i wanted to blog about so much more but a short chat with the girls got all my thoughts wiped out clean.
i'm brainwashed!

and so, i present to u the LOLSpeak dikshunary

January 08, 2009

Imperfection of Perfection

Life seems so perfect for me now.
A wonderful family, cool job, lovely friends and an extremely doting boyfriend.

And yet, something seems to be missing in this perfect life.
What is it that's clouding away the happy thoughts at the back of my mind?
Anyone?

January 04, 2009

January 03, 2009

New Year; New Start




Lo and behold!

Updated resolutions for the new year



Recession is nigh, so they say. 
Thus i have cut down my hopes for that big fat bonus and the big fat expenditure that comes along with it.

Angkor Wat is still top of the list, 
followed by my beloved Ferrania Solaris 35mm Film
whose whereabouts is still a ??


New on the list is the Pavarotti & Friends 6-CD collection.
Yumm!

LMAO: The KIM JIO Chapter

by popular demand.
LMAO - The KIM JIO Chapter

nono: 

oh... i was having dinner at alex village.. eating bak kut teh!

sel:

BO JIO

b:

ya lo

nono:

yah... flu bug around.

b:  

we were thinking u won't join us

sel: 

i'm still tough!

L: 

BO JIO!!!

sel: 

*touchwood*

nono: 

ya right.. who's having headache?

L: 

nono no sim

sel: 

no more le

b: 

BO JIO BO JIO BO JIO KIM JIO KIM JIO KIM JIO

sel: 

hahaa

nono: 

hahaha.

nono: 

i like kim jio!

L: 

nono no <3

sel: 

simi si kin jio?

sel: 

*kim

b: 

banana

sel: 

ohhh

sel: 

haha

nono: 

sel: so lousy in hokkien!

nono: 

so far the tampines one.

nono: 

alex so much nearer.

L: 

*pretends i knew what kim jio is*

b:  

haa

nono: 

hahaha!

b:  

u know it by face. not by name.

L: 

i know it by taste

nono: 

i got a gigantic one at home.....

nono: 

hahahah

nono: 

wooo.. taste!

b: 

eh..

nono: 

wah....

nono: 

swallow too?

nono: 

hahahaha

b: 

spare us the details

L: 

wait.. banana is the fruit.. or is it a metaphor?

nono: 

WAHAHAHAH!

b:  

i think it's.. .. ..

b: 

a bit of both?

L: 

nono: 

hahaa...

nono: 

kim jio = banana

b:

i like metal furs

L: 

dont be corn knee

nono: 

the correct word... depends on when u used and how u say it.

nono: 

it can mean other things.

b:

we wanna see the look on ur face when u say kim jio

nono: 

hahaha. anyway, with boon around.. it will mean other things.

b:

kim jio

L: 

hohoho

nono: 

hahah! 

kim jio

b:

haha

b:

with not one but TWO raised brows

L: 

kim jio

nono: 

hahahaha

b:

kim jio

nono: 

kim jio!

L: 

kim jio

b:

kim jio

L: 

kim jio

nono: 

the many variations of kim jio

b:

hahaaaaaa

sel: 

i dont like kim jio!

b:

i managed to survive the many versions of kim jio!

L:

actually its a bit sad we dont save our chats

sel: 

haha

nono: 

hahaha.

b:

collagen is now safely in my tummy

nono: 

u sure they are safe?

b:

not on the monitor for sure

sel: 

will be so entertaining to read when we are bored